Manufacturers of weapons such as semi-automatic pistols, as well as other firearms, recommend that owners have them on a regularly scheduled maintenance program. Regular maintenance allows each owner and/or user to clean their pistol regularly, to perform any routine maintenance a pistol might need, to periodically inspect the pistol to remove accumulated dirt, and other foreign material and perform upgrades.
It is further and more specifically recommended that each owner/user disassemble, clean, and lubricate each pistol after each use or at least on a regularly scheduled basis. In this process, the pistol frame and trigger system are disassembled so that the entire mechanism can be cleaned and/or lubricated.
However, disassembly is a chore many gun owners avoid or put off as long as possible because disassembly is often a difficult and frustrating task. To properly disassemble a firearm such as a pistol, stability of the pistol itself is required, or at the least, very helpful. Stability is difficult to achieve because pistols are not of a symmetrical shape such as a square or circle, making them awkward to hold and try to clean. A pistol has a number of small, parts and as these are removed, they must be carefully accounted for. If a pistol is being held or supported in an unstable way, the parts can slip and roll or bounce away. Depending on the size, shape and color of a part that slips away, it can be difficult or even impossible to locate. Lost parts will make a firearm unsafe or completely inoperable.
Further, tools are usually required to disassemble a pistol, such as punching tools or hammers. If a pistol is unsupported or supported inadequately, the tool may slip and scratch or otherwise damage the pistol. This kind of damage, depending on where it is on the pistol and degree, can damage the aesthetics of the firearm or even damage its functioning. If the damage is beyond aesthetic, it can present a safety issue.
To deal with this issue, a pistol can be placed in a clamp type device, as known in the art, but the pistol might be damaged at the point at which clamp pressure is being applied. Also this does not address the problem of the possibility of parts becoming separated and flying or bouncing somewhere else. The most common procedure is probably to lay a pistol out on a flat surface for disassembly. This procedure does not address either problem, as the pistol is unstable whenever worked upon, so that either parts can be lost or the pistol can be damaged. This can be particularly true of weapons such as the Ruger LC series, which utilize a number of removable small pins to hold the weapon together.
The Ruger, and weapons design similar to it, have special requirements regarding maintenance procedures. Ruger has a gate, on one side of the weapon, to a pin to remove the slide, but no indication or marker of where the pin is on the other side. The trigger can be removed, but requires the removal of additional pins in advance, to help the user access further components.
Another issue with weapon disassembly is the potential for dangers. These can include the magazine being accidentally left in the weapon with shells still in it. This, in turn, might result in accidental discharge. Another danger is that one may accidentally jostle the trigger, or pull the trigger. Whether the magazine is removed or not, if there is a shell in the chamber, this could also result in a discharge. Dangers such as these during disassembly and maintenance can have tragic consequences.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a device and method that offers a steady platform for disassembling and reassembling pistols, in a safer and more controlled manner for repairs, maintenance and upgrades, that makes the pistol immobile, stable, easy to work on, and helps insure that the smaller parts of the pistol do not get lost.